Fed up
by Lovetoread75
Summary: Ponyboy is fed up with the way he lives. Always forced to study by Darry, and never having any fun. He's rebelling and joins a real gang, dragging Johnny along with him. This is not just a bunch of friends, but a real organized gang. Read to find out what Pony and Johnny got themselves into and how they survive in the new gang. All reviews, favorite/follow are much appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you to everyone who supported my story "I've got to do something." Here is a new story. Enjoy and don't forget to review.**

I was standing outside the school building waiting for Ponyboy. We always met up during lunch to talk and smoke.

It was windy, and the falling red and yellow leaves were twirling in midair. It wasn't bad though. It was actually kind of pretty. The leaves twirling and then gradually landing on the ground. I never even paid attention to things like that, but Pony always pointed stuff like that out, and I started to notice too.

This was such a contrast though. I mean this beauty and what was going on in my life. My parents, they didn't care about me. They drank heavily, and my dad was always beating me up.

After a while I saw Pony's tall figure turn the corner.

"Hi Johnny," he greeted.

"Hi," I replied. I offered him a cigarette, and he lit up.

"So what's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing much. Darry's getting on my nerves lately. All I ever do is study. I hardly have any fun, and he wants me to study even more. Even on weekends. I know compared to your problems mine are nothing, but I just can't stand it. I feel like I'm suffocating."

"Yeah, that sucks," I nodded.

"What about you?" Pony asked carefully like he was afraid to hear the answer.

"Nothing much, managed to avoid a beating for a few days."

"That's good."

Pony was just grounding his cigarette on the ground, when we saw Curly Shepard walking out of the school building and walking towards us. I liked Curly just fine. He was a tough hood even though not too bright. Sometimes though he could talk too much and that could get annoying.

"'S up Curtis, Cade?" He offered his hand, and we both shook it.

"Nothing much," Pony said, and I nodded, "What about you?"

"This Saturday," he paused, and looked at us like he was about to reveal some huge secret to us. "Black Panthers are throwing a party. I'm allowed to bring people, so if you want you can come with me."

Black Panthers was a tuff gang from all the way downtown. We heard of them, but never met any of them. "So are you coming?" Curly asked expectantly, like he was offering us some incredible gift. I looked at Pony. "Sure we'll come," he said and he had this mischievous smile on him face. "For once I'm going to have fun rather than be cooped up in the house studying."

Curly left, and we kept standing there. "This party will be good for me I want to have some fun," Pony said. I wasn't so sure though. I was a little intimidated by Black Panthers and by the crowd that was going to be there, but I didn't tell Pony, I was too embarrassed.

Finally, it was time to go back, when Pony announced "I'm not goin' back."

"What do you mean man?"

"I'm ditching, I'm tired of this studying and being an honors student. Always all this talk about going to college. Maybe I don't even want to go to college, but have anyone asked me? Oh, no sir Bob."

"C'mon Pone don't say that man," I tried to calm him down, "you are blowing this out of proportion."

"Am I? You can go back if you want, but I'm not going back."

"Where are you going to go?" I asked. He hesitated and then said, "The lot."

"Fine, I'll go with you."

"You don't have to," He replied, "I'm perfectly fine."

"C'mon," I said, "I don't get most of the stuff in my classes anyway so I'm just wasting my time sitting in class."

Pony lit up again, and we started walking to the lot. We spent the rest of the day at the lot, smoking and talking. Pony did most of the talking complaining about Darry being on his back all the time.

"He didn't even get mad when Soda dropped out," Pony complained, "And with me it's all study, study, study. I can't wait till Saturday," He sighed.

On Saturday Pony and I walked over to Shepards. Tim was driving Curly and us to the party.

"Does Darry know about this?" Tim turned around from the driver seat and asked.

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way. He only knows that I'm going out with a couple of friends from school, no details," Pony replied.

"Going behind superman's back. I like that," Tim smirked.

We arrived around 8, and the place was already packed. People were dancing and drinking. A whole bunch of people were wearing black hoodies with blue jeans and converses. "Those are the black panthers," Curly explained. "Let's go say hello."

He led me and Pony to one of the guys, wearing a black hoodie. "This is their leader," he whispered under his breath.

"'S up Jesse?" he shook his hand, "this here is Johnny Cade and Ponyboy Curtis." The guy looked at me funny, "'S your real name?" I nodded, feeling my cheeks turn red. I hated being introduced to people.

"Well hope you have fun tonight," Jesse gave us a half smile and went into the crowd dancing. We kept standing awkwardly until Curly started laughing at us.

"Go get yourself a drink," he laughed, holding a beer bottle. We grabbed a beer and went into the crowd to dance. To be honest with you I can't dance to save my life, but Pony seemed to have some moves, and I tried to copy him. The black panthers were dancing too. After a while we got bored of dancing and went into one of the other rooms.

As we opened the door we saw 4 black panther guys sitting on the floor in a semicircle, and one of them was counting money. "Good," he said to the rest of them, "tomorrow the same thing." We didn't want to intrude so we closed the door quickly, and went back to the living rom.

"The black panthers are tuff," Pony said out of the blue, "I bet it's a lot of fun to be part of their gang. This is the real gang not like ours. And we never even do anything anyway." I thought about that for a little while and found myself agreeing with him.

"Let's ask Curly," Pony said, "if he can put a good word in for us since he seem to know them pretty well."

"Hey, Curly," Pony called him when we saw him again in the crowd. "Do you know... um do you know if the black panthers accept more people into their gang?"

"What, you two want to be in it?" He snorted.

"And what if we do? Maybe you can put in a good word for us."

"Fine I'll talk to Jesse for you," he smirked.

"Thanks Curly."

In about ten minutes a guy in a black hoodie came up to us and asked, "Curtis, Cade?" We nodded, "come with me."

He led us to the spare bedroom where Jesse was sitting in a black armchair, grounding his cigarette in the ash tray. I thought they were going to ask us to sit down, but they never did so we were just standing there.

"So," Jesse started, smiling widely, revealing his teeth, "I hear you'd like to join my gang." We nodded. Looking at his facial expression and his smile Jesse reminded me of a wolf.

"I don't usually recruit just from the street, but Curly tells me you are friends with Winston." We nodded again.

"We are real good friends with him," Pony supplied.

"I could use an extra pair of hands. So listen up, this is how it works." I felt my heart beat faster, he was actually letting us be a part of his gang.

"Every day," he continued," you are told what to do, like different jobs. You do what you are told for now for free and when I say you are ready to be the part of the gang for real you start getting paid, capish?" He smiled his grim smile again.

"Sure," Pony said, and I nodded.

"Just remember I'm doing you a favor taking you in. Only 'cause you are friends with Winston. Your first job is easy. On the weekend we always have one of our guys beg for money on the 215 bus. There are lots of rich bastards traveling on that line. So you should do good. Whatever you make bring to me by 8. We are set up in an abandoned warehouse on the corner of Clyde Street.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you everybody for your reviews and follow/favorite. Here is chapter 2. Enjoy and tell me what you think. Oh, and Happy New Year!**

The next day Pony and I met up to go to the 215 bus. We did two rounds from the first stop to the last, and gathered quite a lot of change. We were on our third run on West 4th Street when we saw two cops running towards the doors as we were approaching the stop. They must've spotted us through the window, I mean they saw that we were begging for money, and got on our case right away.

"Shit, cops, try to run" Pony yelled.

We were running towards the back door of the bus, but we didn't have the time to run all the way. I was limping since I got hurt in a fire in Windrixville last year, and it was really hard for me to run. So I'm trying to run, and then this cop grabs me by the tail of my shirt, and I drop my coffee cup that I used to collect change from people. So now all the change is falling out and rolling down on the floor. Here goes our first job, I thought. The cop looked me right in the eyes, and there was disdain in his look.

"Put your hands behind your back," he instructed in a grave voice. I obeyed, and he handcuffed me. The other guy did the same to Pony. People on the bus were looking at us with disgust. I felt like I wanted to crawl under the floor. I'd never been so ashamed in my entire life.

The cops led us out of the bus, on to the street. They searched us, finding nothing. The cop that did the search looked mad and disappointed. He wanted to find something on us, like drugs or guns. That would be a good cause for him to send us straight to jai. He started pacing back and forth next to the car. Then he finally looked at us and demanded our Ids. He looked at the Ids, spending a little more time on Pony's probably 'cause of such an unusual name, and wrote something in his notepad. Then he forced us into the police car.

"So you know that panhandling on the bus is illegal?" the cop spoke, glaring at us. I just glared back at him. I knew what we were doing wasn't right or at least it was against the law, but I thought the cop was overdoing it, and I hated him for that. What we did was harmless. People were giving us change. How asking for a few pennies here and there could hurt anyone? It couldn't I knew it couldn't.

The rest of the way we rode in silence. I could see the cop looking at us in the rear view mirror.

We got to the police station and got out of the car. "Follow me," was all the cop said. We walked in, and immediately I felt all my muscles tense up, and I remembered how Dal told us all these stories about being in jail.

The cop brought us to a cell, and greeted the guard. "I'll take it from here," the guard said. He looked in his early 20's, and he was giving us unfriendly looks. The cop, that brought us there left. The guard removed the handcuffs. "Give me your belts and your shoelaces," he demanded. I was confused for a second, then realized they do that so that we don't try killing ourselves.

After we gave him our belts and shoelaces, he spoke up. "You two, you get your phone calls." Pony and I exchanged looks. We didn't have who to call. We couldn't call Darry 'cause we didn't want to tell him about the black panthers and about begging on the bus. He would lock Pony up if he found out what we've been up to. For a second I thought maybe we should call Dal, but decided against it.

"We don't have anyone to call," I said.

"Suit yourselves," the guard replied. He then motioned for us to get inside the cell. We went in, and he started locking up the cell. "That's two less white trash on the streets," he mumbled under his breath, while locking the cell "they multiply like cockroaches."

"Stupid prejudiced jerk," Pony muttered through clenched teeth.

"What? What'd you say to me?" The guard glared at Pony. He couldn't believe that Pony just said it.

"Stupid prejudiced jerk," Pony repeated louder, glaring back at him.

"What'd you say to me?" The guard exclaimed, his face turning deep red. He started unlocking the cell that he just locked. He got in and grabbed Pony by the collar of his shirt. He punched him in the jaw, and Pony stepped back. I tried to pull him off of Pony, but he took out his stick and hit me across my chest. The pain was unbearable. I instantly bent over, and then he hit me with his stick across my back. I fell on my four on the floor.

He then punched Pony in the face with his fist and then started beating Pony with the stick on his ribs, his back and his stomach. Finally, he hit him on the side of his head and Pony just fell on the floor like a ton of bricks. By then I managed to get up from the floor and started punching the guard, but he grabbed my arms, twisted them behind my back and handcuffed me so I couldn't even defend myself. He laughed satisfied with what he had done.

He then started hitting me in the face with his fists, and I felt blood in my mouth and my eye was in so much pin. He wasn't done yet. He approached me from the back and started hitting me on my back. Finally, I fell on the floor again. I looked over at Pony. He was unconscious.

"Call the ambulance," I demanded. The guard only gave me a look full of hate, smirked and left the cell.

I kept yelling for help from behind the bars, but no one came.

"Shut up or I'll shut you up," the guard commanded. "Keep yelling and you'll join the other one." Then he turned the volume up on the radio that was sitting on his desk.

I kept looking at Pony. I was so scared for him. The way the guard hit him with the stick on the side of his head could give him a concussion or something even worse. I kneeled down and started wiping the blood off of Pony's face with my sleeve. As I was doing that, he stirred and opened his eyes.

"What happened?" he managed to say, and then looked at his bloody shirt and frowned.

"We got beat up man, that's what happened. Can you sit up?" He tried, but then groaned and lay back down. "It hurts."

I took off my jean jacket and used it to wipe the blood off of Pony's arms and shoulders and his chest. He moaned slightly as I was doing that. Finally he was able to sit up.

So we were just sitting in the corner of the cell in silence.

"What'd you think they'll do with us?" I broke the silence.

"I dunno Johnnycakes." We were sitting like that all quiet for a while longer. After a while the clerk came by and told us that we will be released after spending twenty four hours in the cell if we a fine. Two hundred bux each.

So we had to call Darry after all.

"Hey can I have my phone call?" Pony called out to the guard through the bars.

"I thought you said you don't have anyone to call."

"Well," He paused, "we do now."

"Fine." The guard came by and unlocked the cell. Pony and I came out. The guard led us to the desk, where the phone was. Pony dialed the number, and I could see that his hand was shaking.

"Hello," he said after a moment, then continued. "Hi Darry, it's Ponyboy. Don't be mad, but Johnny and I… we kind of got in trouble." Then he paused listening to whatever Darry was saying on the other end of the line.

"No, we are all right," Pony continued, "but we are… we are in jail." He stopped talking, and was holding his breath. Whatever Darry was saying must've been harsh.

"C'mon don't be mad." Then Darry must've asked how it happened, 'cause Pony inhaled deeply and said, "well, we wanted to buy these records at the record store, but we didn't have enough money so we started begging on the bus a little." I looked at Pony. He came up with that lie just on the spot.

"Only we got caught," he continued, "and now we're supposed to stay in jail for twenty four hours and pay this fine. It's two hundred bux each"

"I'm sorry," Pony said after listening to Darry for a while. Then he said "bye," and hung up.

"He didn't take it well, did he?" I asked once we were back in the cell.

"He was mad at first, but then I told him it was for the records we wanted to buy, and he seemed to calm down," Pony sighed, "He'll be here in the morning with the money."

I woke up from the clang of the cell being unlocked. I rubbed my eyes and looked up. It was a different guard. We must've slept all this time. I looked at my watch. It was twelve in the afternoon. So our twenty four hours expired since we were brought at eleven a.m. the day before. At least sleeping killed time, I thought. You start thinking all sorts of things when you have too much time on your hands.

"Cade, Curtis," the guard called out.

"Huh?" Pony opened his eyes.

"You can go now," the guard announced.

We stood up and exited the cell. "We… we can go?" I asked confused.

"That's what I said," the guard replied, looking at me like I was stupid. He didn't have to say it again. I almost ran out of there. In the hallway we noticed Darry. He was standing there with a stern expression on his face. "I took care of the fine," he said with finality.

"Thanks, Dar," Pony said, and I saw he was feeling uneasy.

"Yeah, thank you Darry. I would have never been able to come up with the money."

"Don't worry about it Johnny." Then Darry's facial expression changed into one of worry. "What happened to your faces?" He asked, and he looked startled.

"Don't worry about it. It looks worse than it feels." Pony replied.

"Who did it?" Darry demanded.

"The guard. He was badmouthing greasers, and I stood up to him, so he beat us up. It's ok though. It doesn't hurt too much." Pony said.

Darry's expression was pained. "Bastard," he said through clenched teeth. "Let's just get out of here. We'll talk in the car."

We got out, and saw Darry's truck parked on the corner. Pony got in the passenger seat, and I got in the back.

"So, how you came up with such a stupid idea?" Darry asked, and there was disappointment in his voice, but also concern.

"It's just… we didn't have enough money for the records," Pony lied, and I had to play along so I nodded.

"Why didn't you come to me? I know we are short on cash a lot of times, but I would've gotten those records for you." Darry didn't sound mad as he was saying this. He sounded like it was his fault.

"You know," he continued, "that if your allowance isn't enough, you can always ask me for more. I would've gotten you those records," he repeated, "and now look what happened – I'm out four hundred bux. I bet that's more than any records." Pony remained silent, then said hardly audible "I'm sorry." I hung my head. I felt so bad lying to Darry,

"So am I grounded?" Pony asked carefully.

"You should be," Darry replied, "but I'll go easy on you this time." Pony smiled. "Thanks Dar."

"Now which records did you want?"

"Two last Elvis albums."

"I'll get them for you tomorrow."

"Thanks Dar." Pony said again.

Soon we reached the Curtis house, and got out of the car. We changed into clean clothes and washed out the blood from our faces. We had to brace ourselves for what was coming though. We had to face the black panthers.

"I bet Jesse is going to be real mad." Pony said as we were sitting on the bed in his room.

"Do you think they'll beat us up?" I asked.

"Dunno, probably."

"Uh, whatever man," I said, "we'll take it. It ain't the first time."

"Ain't that the truth."

We were supposed to go to the abandoned warehouse Sunday night to give Jesse the money we collected on the bus. But since we were in jail we weren't able to be there on time. So on Monday night we went to the warehouse. Jesse got on our case right away.

"Where have you been?" he demanded, grounding his cigarette on the floor not bothering with the ashtray. He eyed us suspiciously and then noticed our bruised up faces and black eyes.

"What happened, did you get mugged?"

"No we got caught by the cops," I said quietly.

"Caught by the cops?" All of the sudden he was all worked up. "How did that happen? Don't you know to look out for cops? I thought you knew that. Our guys do it all the time, and have never been caught by the cops"

"There was nothing we could do," Pony replied with a little annoyance in his voice. "We were in the bus and the cops just walked in on us."

"You could've blended in with the crowd like you were just on the bus, just like everybody else."

"It was too late for that. They spotted us even before, when they were still outside."

"Did you tell them anything about us?" Jesse demanded, backing Pony against the wall.

"No."

"Think real hard before you answer," he shoved me back. Everybody gathered around us in a semicircle. "Go easy on them" Mark said.

"Watch it," Jesse warned, turning around to face him. "Now I'll ask you again - did you say anything about us?"

"No. I swear," I replied. I didn't want another beating. Jesse seemed to calm down a little. "So who did that to your face?" He asked next, and there was no sympathy in his voice just sheer curiosity.

"The guard," Pony replied, "just 'cause we are greasers." I thought I saw Jesse smirk.

After warning us that this better be our first and last incident with the fuzz, Jesse let us go. I was relieved. I really didn't want another beating.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everybody. Thanks for reviewing, following and favoriting. Here is chapter 3. It's rather short and it's kind of going away from the main plot line, which is how Pony and Johnny survive being part of the Black Panthers. Because it's so short I'm posting two chapters today. This one and chapter 4. Chapter 4 is going back to the main plot line – Pony and Johnny and the Black Panthers. I decided to kind of have two plot lines running through the story. The main plot line - Pony and Johnny and the Black Panthers, and the second one - Johnny and Annie. There will be one main event later in the story though that has to do with both Black Panthers and Annie. Annie is my OC and I tried really hard not to make her a MarySue. So if you notice anything at all MarySueish please let me know ASAP so I can fix it. Anyway, here we go enjoy and please review.**

The next day we had school. We cleaned up as much as possible, but we still had black eyes, and Pony had a swollen lip, while I had a huge bruise on my cheek. We entered the building and went to our lockers. We were greeted by Annie "Whatever happened to you two?" she asked concern in her eyes.

"No big deal, got into a fight," Pony lied.

Annie was one of Pony's middle class friends. She was in my Social Studies class, but her math and English she was in the smart classes with Pony. I found myself liking her. She was really pretty, and I liked her personality too. She had honey brown hair that she wore down and big blue eyes. She wasn't stuck up like socs or even a lot of middle class kids, especially girls. She hung out with us a few times, and she went with Two-bit, Steve, Pony and me to this diner we go to for lunch. I knew that I had no chance with her, but I still liked her. You can't help who you like and who you dislike. I found myself even shyer in her presence than I usually was. So Pony did the talking.

My Social Studies class was my third period. I was sitting all the way in the back. I always sit in the back in all of my classes. I don't get half of what the teacher is saying anyway.

I was thinking about the black panthers, and how we got jailed up this weekend, when I heard my name being called.

"Huh?" I looked up at the teacher.

"Are you with us Mr. Cade?" she asked, squinting a little at me. She must've seen that I was thinking 'bout something else. I was silent.

"Just what I thought. Let me repeat then especially for you. I'm assigning the partners for your project today." She started calling out names at random assigning partners, when Annie raised her hand.

"Yes?" The teacher asked annoyance in her voice since she was being interrupted.

"Can I partner with Johnny Cade?"

The teacher was surprised, but said, "Sure."

"I hope you don't mind Annie said to me."

"No I don't mind," I replied, feeling my cheeks turn red. I wonder why she did this, I thought. It's probably 'cause she knows me better than other kids in the class. After all she's Pony's friend and now she felt like I'm was her friend too, especially since she hung out with us a few times. She saw me as just a friend or even less than her friend. Just Pony's friend.

For the rest of the class the teacher had us sit next to our partners, and pick the topic for the project and decide on when we were going to work on it. That meant I had to sit next to Annie and actually talk to her. I didn't think I was capable of that, but somehow I managed. I was wondering if my face was red the whole time. Actually Annie was really easy to talk to, and I found myself relax a little.

We decided to meet at the library at three. After the bell rang, we walked out together, and I went straight to my locker, which was right by the Social Studies room, to get my math books, when all of the sudden I was pinned against the locker. I looked up to see this soc Craig pinning me by my shoulders and laughing.

"In a rush?" he mocked, "don't let me stop you." I saw in the corner of my eye that Annie was still there. I was so ashamed. Craig was one of the most violent socs. He would never pass by a greaser without a t least making some sort of nasty comment, but most o f the time he started fights.

"Let go of me," I tried to get out of his grip.

"What's that?" He snickered. "I can't hear you." He moved to the left, and I saw three other socs by his side. I knew them all. We have fought before, or they beat me up before to be exact. Simon, Alex and Mike.

Without a warning Simon punched me in the stomach with all his strength. I doubled over and almost fell. At this moment Annie stepped forward and hit Simon with her back pack on his head. He fell, but got up quickly. He tried to catch her but she ran.

"I'll get Two-bit and Steve," she yelled. In the meantime Alex was holding my shirt collar and pulling me towards him. Then he released his grip so that I hit my head against the locker. He kept doing that, and it really hurt.

Then Mike came closer and punched me in the face, then again and again, while Alex was holding me. I started coughing up blood. I noticed there was a crowd forming. Soon someone will probably get the principal. I really didn't want to get detention especially if socs were going to be there too.

I stopped trying to get out of their grip. It was useless, so I decided to just take it, and wait till it would finally be over. I was punched in the stomach again and again until I could hardly stand on my feet.

That's when I saw Two-bit and Steve make their way through the crowd. I saw the socs tense up. Steve and Two-bit had no problem beating up the socs. They could hardly escape through the crowd while Steve was still waving his fists at them.

"We better go 'fore the principal shows up," Two bit said.

"Yeah," Steve nodded. The crowd started to disperse, but Annie was still there. "Thank you," I mouthed, before Steve and Two-bit led me to my next class.

At three I met Annie at the library. "Thanks for earlier," I said to her.

"No problem, it's the least I could do."

We decided that the topic for out project was going to be the Civil War. I liked it, and I remembered a lot about it not from any Social Studies textbook, but from that book Gone with the Wind that Pony and me read in Windrixville.

We worked for about two hours, and decided it was enough for one day. It was about 5 p.m., but it was already dark outside this time of year.

"I'll walk you home," I said. I didn't know where that came from. I just said it. I'd hate for her to walk all by herself even though I wouldn't be much help if someone wanted to attack her since I'm so small and all. It's less likely for someone to attack though if they see two people walking rather than one girl just walking by herself.

"Thank you," she said, "that would be nice."

On the way to her house we talked mostly about the project to avoid an awkward silence.

From that day we met at the library every other day, and I walked Anne home. We talked about a lot of different stuff like what bands we liked. Turned out we had a lot in common.

One day she shared something really personal with me. She told me that her mom died from cancer six years ago, and that last year her dad remarried, and her stepmom was a real bitch and hated Annie. And she was so young she could be Annie's sister. They constantly fought, and Annie's dad always took his wife's side. And her dad was also treating her differently since he remarried. He was really cold and didn't act like he loved her.

What was I going to stay to that? I wanted to share my problem with my parents, but I didn't feel comfortable enough. I thought I needed to comfort her, to make her feel better somehow. So I decided to tell her about the lot.

"Whenever I have some problems or something is bothering me I go to the lot." I said.

"The lot?" she asked.

"Yeah, there is this vacant lot not far from my house. I go there to sort things out, think and calm down." I didn't tell her that I went there to avoid being beaten to a pulp.

"C'mon I'll show you." I led her to the lot. It was a little out of the way, but not that much. We sat there and talked a little more. Annie did most of the talking and I listened. She told me she missed her mom a lot. I don't blame her, who wouldn't. After we stayed there for a while I walked her home.

A few days passed by. One night I was staying at the lot, not going home so I could avoid a beating. It was chilly out, and I made a fire to keep warm. It was dark, and I could hardly see except for the light that the fire was casting on certain spots.

It was getting really late, and I was about to go to sleep, when I saw a figure approaching the lot. At first I thought it was Pony, but as the figure came closer, I realized that it was Annie. When she came closer and the light from the fire illuminated her face, I could see her eyes were red like she was crying.

"What are you doing here at this hour?" I asked, concern in my voice.

"You showed me this place that you escape to when you need to think about stuff and I need to just now."

"Are you ok? What happened?"

"I just had a huge fight with my stepmother."

"What happened?"

"I was on the phone with my friend, right and then she comes in and yells that she needs the phone. I tell her to hold on that I'm not done talking yet, but she yanks the phone out of my hands, and hangs up on my friend. Then she yells at me that I do nothing around the house, but lounge, and talk on the phone for hours, which isn't true, but even if it was it's not her damn business. It's my house, and I do what I want. So I yelled at her, telling her to mind her business, and called her a few names, then I just ran out of the house. And the whole time my dad didn't even defend me. I don't know what he sees in her. I just can't stand her."

I wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know what to say. What do you say to something like that?

"Maybe you can talk to your dad, and he'll tell her to treat you nicer."

"I doubt it," she snorted. "It's like he's completely blind since he married her."

"You know my home life is not so great either that's why I come here often."

"What's wrong with your family?" she asked sounding genuinely concerned.

"What's not wrong," I snorted. "My folks drink a lot, and then they beat me up just for kicks. I can't even show up at home without being beat up. That's why I stay out here all the time. I got scars from the beatings all over my body."

Annie's eyes were huge as I finished talking. She looked completely shocked. "They beat you up?" She asked in disbelief. I didn't mean to tell her, but I just said it, before I could think about it. She was silent for a minute then said "I guess my problems are nothing compared to yours."

We sat by the fire for a little while till she could calm down, then I walked her home.

"How do you deal with it?" she asked as we were walking.

"What, my parents?" She nodded.

"I used to get really upset about it, you know, that they don't care and even hate me, but now I know it's all 'cause of the booze. They get real violent when they're drunk, 'specially my dad. But I'm used to it. I try to avoid being home when they are. That's why I sleep out in the lot a lot of times or at the Curtis house." We kept talking about our families till we reached Annie's house.

"Stay safe tonight," she said before going in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to everyone for reading, reviewing, following/favoriting. It really means a lot. Here is chapter 4. It's long and it goes back to the main plot line, which is Pony and Johnny and the black panthers. Please R&R.**

A few weeks passed by. We still weren't treated as equals by the black panthers. They didn't talk to us unless it was business, like taking the money from us, and they didn't include us in their meetings. We still begged on the bus on weekends. Only we didn't get caught again. We looked out the window and when it was a few blocks before the stop we stopped begging and pretended like we were regular passengers on the bus just like everybody else. This strategy worked.

On Sunday we were giving the money, that we collected, to Jesse, when the black panthers had a meeting, and for the first time they asked us to stay.

"I found a perfect spot for our next hit," one of the guys spoke up. His name was Mark, and he was kind of the most important person in the gang after Jesse.

"It's a nice convenience store all the way on the West side. It's perfect. It has a lot of traffic so there is a lot of cash each day. We'll hit it at night right before closing." Jesse nodded in approval. Then he turned his attention to Pony and me.

"You two are going to do it." He said with a smirk. "Consider it your right of passage. You two, Mark and Dave will go in. James will be waiting for you in the car, understood?" We both nodded.

"Make sure to beat the clerk up real good, so he gets the message that if he goes to the cops he dies."I didn't like the idea at all, and looking at Pony's facial expression he didn't really like it either. Sure we wanted to be in a gang, but I guess we didn't think it all the way through.

After the meeting Jesse motioned for us to stay.

"I have a job for you," he said. Both Pony and I looked up at him in anticipation. He got up from his armchair, and went to his desk. He opened one of the drawers, and took out stacks of paper from it, then from under all the papers he took out a brown bag.

"You got to deliver this to Fantasy Factory. It's a nightclub all the way downtown. Take 117 bus all the way to the last stop. Then walk about two blocks north you'll see the club right away. Get the owner Frankie, and get the money from him and bring it back. Don't think of anything stupid like running off with the money. We'll find you no matter where you are."

I took the bag reluctantly. I didn't want to know what was inside, but I was pretty sure it was drugs. Jesse gave me a huge backpack, and told me to put the bag inside. Then he wrote down the address on a piece of paper, and gave it to me.

From there we went to the lot. Pony made a fire, and we were sitting there, getting warm.

"You want to see what it is?" Pony asked.

"I'm sure its drugs," I said.

"Yeah, I think so too." We took out the bag from the backpack and looked inside. Sure enough there was a large compressed block of white powder wrapped in plastic.

"What'd I tell you?" I said. Pony nodded, putting the bag back into the backpack.

"I don't like this robbery business," I said next. Pony nodded, "Me neither. I know I wanted to be in this gang and everything, but I guess I didn't think it all the way through. I don't want to go beat up some innocent person and take his hard earned money."

"Maybe we could warn the owner?" I suggested.

"They are not stupid, they are not giving us the address until the time of the robbery. So we can't do that."

"Maybe we can just split then," I suggested. Pony gave me a look, and said, "don't you know they are not gonna let us split. Especially now that we know their plans 'bout the robbery. Once you are in you are never out, plus I kind of still want to be part of their gang."

"I guess we are just going to have to go through with this then and do what they tell us to do."

The next day around 7 we started for downtown to deliver the drugs. The club opened at 8, and it would take us about an hour to get there. We had to take the 117 bus all the way to the last stop. It was a long ride. During the ride we almost didn't talk. I was thinking about what we got ourselves into and how to get out of this situation. Pony had fallen asleep on my shoulder, and I had to wake him when we finally got there.

"Two blocks north," Pony said sleepily. We walked two blocks, and sure enough we saw the sign flashing in neon lights - Fantasy Factory. We proceeded to the entrance and were met by the bouncer, who demanded Id's. We tried to explain to him that we weren't regular visitors, but we were there to see Frankie, and we were sent by Jesse o f the black panthers. We weren't sure if we were allowed to tell him that, but that was our only choice.

After about fifteen minutes of arguing, he finally let us in. He went inside with us, motioned for us to sit at this small round table and told us to wait. It was really dark inside, and I had to squint to see anything. Finally the bouncer came out with another guy, and pointed in our direction. The guy came up to us and asked, "You got the stuff for Frankie?" I nodded, swallowing hard and feeling my mouth go dry.

"Follow me." We followed him through the back door. When we entered, we were met by a guy, who looked like he was in his early twenties. He was sitting in a leather armchair by the small round table, smoking a cigar. He had brown hair slicked carefully to the back, and dark blue piercing eyes that at the moment were focused on us, and didn't make me feel too hot. He was wearing a black button down shirt and black pants. He had two gold rings on one hand, and one on the other. The lights in the room were dimmed and that plus the smoke from his cigar made his image unclear and distorted.

The guy that brought us there went to stand by his side. Frankie didn't smile as he spoke and he went right to business. His voice was hoarse – the voice of a smoker.

"Where is the stuff?" he asked, looking at us expectantly.

"Where is the money?" Pony asked, and I thought that was really smart of him to ask that before just giving them the stuff.

"I see you are a smart one." Frankie got up from his armchair, and went to the second part of the room, the entrance to which was covered by a black curtain so we couldn't see what was inside. He came back in a couple of minutes holding a black briefcase. He placed it on the table carefully and opened it. I held my breath. It all seemed so surreal like some movie about thugs and drug dealers. Inside the briefcase there were stacks of money.

"How about now?" Frankie asked, letting out a smoke ring. Pony reached into the backpack and took out the bag. Without a word he stretched out his arm giving the bag to Frankie. Frankie reached inside, removing the plastic, looking satisfied.

Pony stretched his arm to get the briefcase with the money, when all of the sudden the guy that was standing by Frankie lunged forward and grabbed the briefcase. Then in one abrupt movement he turned the table over so it almost knocked us down. It took us a minute to recover from the shock. In the meantime the guy ran inside behind the curtain the briefcase in his hand.

"Nice doing business with you," Frankie smiled a wide, self-confident and disgusting smile. Then he spoke into his radio, and two bouncers came into the room. I braced myself for what was coming. We sure were going to get beat up.

"You gonna go on your own or you want me to show you the way?" one of the bouncers spoke with a heavy downtown accent as he was flexing his muscles.

There was nothing we could do. The money was gone, and we already gave the drugs to them.

"We... we'll go," I said, my voice breaking, as I was backing up and dragging Pony with me, unable to say anything else.

Once we were outside, I exhaled. "I thought we were going to get beat up for sure," I said. "Those bouncers sure are big." It was really late by now, and it was dark outside, but I could still see Pony's eyes glistening in the dark. They were huge. "Me too. I thought we were going to get it for sure." He said.

"Now what are we going to tell Jesse, man?" Pony asked frowning. "I bet he's gonna think we took the money, 'member how he warned us 'bout that."

We were scared to face Jesse. There was no telling what he and his guys would do once they found out that we blew it.

We hopped on the bus. It was really late now and the bus was empty, except for some drunk, who was wobbling back and forth.

It was too late to go to the abandoned warehouse. Nobody would be there at this hour. So we went the next day. As soon as we entered, Jesse got up and ran over to us. "Where's the money?" he demanded.

"We don't have it," I said, and it was so low that I could hardly hear my own voice.

"What'd you say to me?"

"We don't have the money," Pony spoke up, and he sounded like he was ready to stand up for himself, stand up for us.

"We don't have the money," he repeated louder, "and it really isn't our fault. They tricked us." Two of Jesse's people were now next to him, and staring at us.

"Where's the fuckin' money?" Jesse yelled, pushing Pony so he took a few steps back.

"They tricked us," Pony now yelled, "They showed us the money so we gave them the stuff, then they took the money back."

"How the hell could they take it back?"

"It was in this briefcase, right. Frankie set the briefcase on the table for us to see, but when we tried to take it, his man turned the table over, and took back the money. We couldn't fight for it. They had these two huge bouncers, who would just beat us up if we tried."

"Shit, I told you not to deal with Frankie," one of Jesse's guys spoke up, "the guy is shady."

Jesse looked mad. "I'm not asking for your fuckin' opinion," he barked, shoving the guy so he fell backwards. Then it looked like he was unsure what to do next. "We were counting on that money you morons," he finally yelled, getting in my face and grabbing me by the shoulders, then punching me in the stomach. Then he grabbed me, trying to push me to the floor.

"Get off of him," Pony yelled trying to pull him off of me. Then the other guy grabbed Pony by the shoulders from the back, and punched him straight in the eye.

I couldn't see what else was happening with Pony 'cause Jesse finally got me down on the floor. He sat on my stomach and started slugging me in the face. "You fuck up," he cursed as he was punching me. Then he got up and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and pulled me up. He held me with one hand while delivering blows to my face, jaw and stomach with the other hand. Then the other guys started beating on me too. They all took turns on hitting and punching me in the stomach, on my back and on my head. They were pushing me from one guy to another and each one delivered a blow or a punch.

Finally they let me go, and Jesse spat through his teeth. "Follow me," He commanded. I wobbled following him into another room at the warehouse. There he came up to one of the shelves full of boxes. He stretched his arm and retrieved a gun from behind the boxes and waved it in front of me.

"One more fuck up and you are gone, ye hear me?" For some odd reason his threat didn't scare me. He could easily kill us I thought dully with a detached feeling. I thought about the robbery. If we screw up we'd be gone.

Jesse's guys followed us to the other room at the warehouse. As soon as Jesse stopped talking, they continued beating me. Finally one of them grabbed a glass ashtray and hit me right on the back of my head. I started falling and then everything went black.

I opened my eyes and squinted from the bright light. I looked around and realized I was in the corner of the room. Ponyoby was sitting next to me. We were the only ones in the warehouse. Everybody else left. Pony looked awful. His left eye was completely swollen and blue and red all around it. His cheeks had bruises, and had dried blood all over. He was looking at me and he looked scared.

"What happened?" I asked weakly.

"Don't you 'member you passed out."

"I did?" I asked trying to sit up, but quickly realizing I wouldn't be able to 'cause everything hurt. "We went downtown to deliver the drugs to this guy Frankie, and they tricked us, and didn't give us the money. Then we came back here and got beat up by the black panthers 'cause we didn't bring the money. You got a blow on your head and you passed out. I was real scared. I thought you got a concussion for sure."

Gradually the events of what Pony was talking about flooded my mind.

"Yeah," I managed, "I 'member now. You look awful," I said to Pony. He smiled weakly, "look who's talking. If only you could see yourself."

"I think I can feel it."

"Can you sit up?"

"I don't think so. It hurts all over."

"Hold on I'll get you some water," Pony said. He got up, and came back in a few minutes with a glass of water. "Drink man." I took the glass.

"Thanks."

"This robbery, I don't want to do it," I spoke my mind.

"I know man, but we got no choice, we are with black panthers now. C'mon let's get you cleaned up," Pony said next. He found a cloth and wet it and started to clean up my face since I couldn't get up or sit up for that matter.

"I'm sorry man," Pony said all of the sudden, as he was wiping the blood off of my face.

"What are you talking about?"

"If not for me you wouldn't have been in this mess. It was my idea to join the black panthers, and I just dragged you along with me."

"Don't say that man. I wanted it as much as you did. You didn't drag me or nothing."

I stayed in the laying position a while longer, and then was finally able to get up. We went back, and I spent the night at the Curtis.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok here is chapter 5. Please read and don't forget to review. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed or favorited. Again this is about my OC Annie. If you notice anything at all MarySueish about her please let me know ASAP so I can fix it. Next chapter is going to be again about Pony, Johnny and the Black Panthers. **

**Also I started a forum on here. Drop by and check it out. The Dingo. Here is the link. It wouldn't let me post a link, so I had to spell out the dots, www dot fanfiction dot net/forum/The-Dingo/168218/ I started a few topics, but you can start your own topic about whatever you want, or RP if that's what you want. Hope to see you there. **

The next day I saw Annie in school, my Social Study class.

"What happened to your face?" she asked looking completely shocked. "Was that your p…parents?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, not this time."

"Then who? Socs?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you some other time ok?" I wanted to tell her about the gang and what happened, but I wasn't sure if I should. I wanted somebody besides Pony to know, but at the same time I felt like I shouldn't tell anyone. When Steve and Two-Bit asked me and Pony about our faces during lunch we just said it was socs. It was easier this way.

At three I met up with Annie at the library. We had to finalize our project.

I found the table where we always sat. It was all the way in the corner blocked from being seen by anyone by the bookshelves. We always sat there. It was our spot. It was quiet and private. We could do our work without being disturbed by anyone. Annie was eating a chocolate bar, even though you are not supposed to eat in the library. She waved at me when she saw me.

We divided our work into several parts. She was working on her parts and I was working on mine.

"So are you going to tell me what happened to your face?" Annie asked, as we started working. I was debating if I should tell her the truth. Somehow I didn't want to lie to her, and I also felt like telling someone the truth, like I couldn't keep it all bottled up inside.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied looking at me with anticipation.

"Have you heard of Black Panthers?"

"The gang?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, I heard that they are pretty cruel."

"Well, Pony and me … we're," I paused, trying to find the right words, "we are kind of part of them now. No one knows. Not even Two-Bit or Steve or Pony's brothers or Dally. So this is just between you and me."

She looked shocked, "How did you get involved with them? Why?" So I told her all about the party the Black Panthers were throwing, and that we thought it would be tuff to join a real gang, and that it was also a way to make some money since almost no one would hire a greaser for a regular job.

"So, they beat you up. Why?"

"Well, they sent me and Pony to deliver drugs to this guy at the night club. The guy didn't pay up and when we got back we got beat up 'cause we didn't bring the money."

"Oh my God, this is so dangerous. What were you thinking joining them? Promise me you'll be really careful," she almost yelled, grabbing my hand. When she just grabbed my hand like that, I felt as if an electric current shot through my body.

"I'd hate if something bad happened to you," Annie continued. She looked me in the eyes, and I about drowned in her big blue eyes. Looking in her eyes was like looking at the sky – blue an endless. And holding her hand felt so nice.

"I didn't mean to scare you," I replied quickly, "Nothing bad is gonna happen to me."

"Promise you'll be careful," she said again.

"I promise, Annie, I promise."

"How are things with you at home?" I asked after we worked in silence for a little while.

"The same, nothing changed." She replied, disappointment clearly in her voice, "I tried talking to my dad, but he took _her_ side, said I was overreacting. So I'm getting used to the idea that things aren't going to change."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Don't be. I'll be ok."

We worked in silence for a little while. I wanted to lighten up the mood. I hated that our conversation got so serious. But I didn't know what to say. So I was just sitting there writing stuff up for the project until I was done. "I'm done," I finally said.

"Let me see," she said.

"Sure,"

She leaned in to look at what I had written.

For a moment she was so close to me. Our foreheads almost touched. I felt her breath on my skin, and her lips were so close to mine. I was overwhelmed by her beauty. I really wanted to kiss her, but I would never do that.

Suddenly I saw something flicker in her eyes. Like this expression of confusion and then determination. Before I could think of what was happening, I felt her lips crush onto mine. I couldn't believe this was happening. My heart almost jumped out of my chest as I started kissing her back. Her lips were sweet from the chocolate bar, which made the kiss even more beautiful. I was thankful that there were book shelves all around us and nobody could see us. I reached out and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. I wanted this moment to last forever, but of course it couldn't and finally we stopped. I looked her in the eyes, and put my hand on top of her hand on the table.

"I really like you Annie," I whispered. She smiled her beautiful smile at me and laced her fingers through mine.

"I really like you too, Johnny Cade. I've liked you for a while."

We stayed a bit longer talking and laughing, project forgotten.

It was time to go, and I walked Annie home. As we got to her front porch, I got closer and put my hands around her waist. I felt how my heart was beating wildly inside my chest. She sensed what I was about to do and wrapped her arms around my neck. I hated to be so shy all the time. I closed my eyes, leaned in and kissed her. I loved how her soft lips felt on mine, and how her hair felt against my skin. Finally she broke the kiss. "I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow Annie," I whispered.

I felt on cloud nine as I turned around and started walking back. We actually kissed, and not once, but twice. It was really happening. For a moment I forgot all my worries about the black panthers and being beat up and the robbery. All I could think of was that Annie liked me. I was overwhelmed by this feeling. I could never even in my wildest dreams imagine that she would like me, but she did, she actually did.

That night I stayed at the Curtis. I couldn't wait to tell Pony what happened with me and Annie, and when I did, he was really happy for me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everybody, thanks for reading, reviewing and following/favoriting. This chapter is going back to the main plot line about Pony and Johnny surviving in the new gang. I know in the book it said that there were no fights between gangs in Tulsa, but in my story there is gang rivalry. The book does mention a few gangs that existed like River Kings and Tiber Street Tigers. In the next few chapters it will finally be about the robbery that Pony and Johnny dread so much and there will be somewhat of a plot twist so stick around to find out what it is.**

**Anyway, here we go, review.**

The next few days passed by uneventful. Jesse was still mad about the whole fiasco with the drugs so he and the rest of the guys treated us extra harsh.

So on Saturday Pony and me were approaching the warehouse, when I heard noise, sound of broken glass, whistling and cursing. We turned the corner to see people running all around the warehouse, rolling on the ground, fighting some other guys. Some of them had baseball bats and were smashing the windows.

I was in shock. I saw one of the black panthers running by me.

"What a hell?" I yelled.

"Rival gang, they just attacked us," he yelled back, while still running.

My first instinct was to leave. It wasn't my battle, but then I thought Jesse was going to know I didn't fight and that can't be good. They were treating me and Pony like shit anyway, but if we didn't fight they'd treat us even worse and there is no telling what Jesse would do. I was still standing there though a little hesitant.

"C'mon we got to join the fight," Pony spoke my thoughts.

We were just standing there deciding who to fight, when these two huge guys attacked us. The one that attacked me stuck his foot out, and I tripped and fell into the mud. He then started kicking me with his feet, and he was wearing some heavy boots and it hurt like crazy. Then he got down and started punching me in the stomach and in the jaw. Then he was slugging me in the face. I felt blood in my mouth.

I then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and put my hands around his throat, trying to choke him up a little so he would let go of me, but he was much stronger than me, and was able to remove my hand.

"So you haven't had enough yet?" he smirked at me. Then I punched him in the jaw, and he grabbed my arm, and then we were rolling around in the mud. Finally when he realized that he beat me to the point where I couldn't get up, he left me alone.

I was just lying there, breathing heavily. I looked over at Pony. The guy that attacked him was also gone, and Pony was standing there wiping blood off of his face with his sleeve. Instead of wiping it he was just smudging it all over the face. He stretched his arm, and I grabbed it and pulled myself up. I was hurting all over.

"Wanna split?" Pony asked.

"Nah, they'll know we didn't fight and we won't hear the end of it. We gotta help them, man." We quickly looked around to see who needed help.

"Right there," Pony yelled pointing to where James was fighting this really big guy, and he was losing.

They were rolling on the ground, bathing in mud and splashing the mud all around them. Both Pony and me attacked the guy from the back and pulled him off of James. What we didn't notice though was a piece of pipe he was holding in his hand. He lunged forward pressing his entire body weight on me and hit me with the pipe in the shoulder. He was aiming for the head, but lucky for me he missed. Thank God he missed, I wasn't itching getting a concussion. In the meantime Pony jumped at him from the side and I helped to push him. He fell dropping the pipe into the mud.

Then we looked around and saw that Jesse was being beaten by these three guys. One of them was hitting him with a chain while the other two were punching and slugging him everywhere. Then I saw Jesse pull out a blade. The guy that was beating him with the chain grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back so Jesse dropped the blade.

"We should help Jesse," I said.

"We have no chance against those three," Pony replied. I looked around and saw a baseball bat in the mud. I grabbed it.

"Maybe now," I suggested, and Pony nodded. We got closer to the guy with the chain and I swung the baseball bat and hit him right in the stomach. He doubled over in pain and muttered some curses. Then he stood straight again and tried to grab me, but I stepped back, leaving a safe distance between me and him.

Pony used this moment of hesitation and grabbed the chain and yanked it out of his hands. Then he started to beat him with it. Then the other two guys lunged at me, grabbing the baseball bat from my hands and hitting me with all their strength. Just not in the head I thought. I tried covering my head with my hands. One of the guys hit me on the side and on the ribs real hard. I fell on the ground pretty sure the guy broke my ribs. While I was falling I saw in the corner of my eye Jesse running inside the warehouse. Is he just going to hide there, I thought, but in a few minutes I saw Jesse run out and then I heard a gunshot. So he must've gone inside to get the gun. A few gunshots followed.

Then everything went deathly quiet. Then people started running - both black panthers and the rival gang.

When it all cleared up I saw Mark lying in the mud, and Jesse and a few others were bending down to help him up.

"Call the ambulance, call the ambulance," Teddy yelled. His face was scraped and he had a black eye and a split lip.

"We can't call the ambulance, they are gonna to call the fuzz since it's a bullet wound."

"We'll say _they_ attacked _us_ and _they_ had the gun.

"Fine," Jesse replied.

"Let's get him inside for now." James suggested. Jesse and Adam carried Mark inside, while James called the ambulance. I was standing at the entrance to the warehouse with Pony leaning on my shoulder. I had this completely detached feeling like this wasn't happening to _me. _Like I was watching some movie or something, but I wasn't part of it.

In a few minutes I heard Jesse curse.

"Cancel the ambulance," he yelled to James, "he's gone." The words pierced through me like a knife. "He's gone." kept repeating in my head. So this is how the big boys play, I thought - people fight, people die. Our no weapon fights with the socs were child's play compared to this.

Pony looked at me like he was going to cry. To be honest, I felt the same way. Sure the black panthers didn't treat us all that nice and all, but we still bonded with them a little, and it was hard to see someone die. My thoughts were interrupted by Jesse's voice. "Why are you two still standing in the entrance? Get inside, and close the door behind you."

We went inside. There were shards of glass everywhere, and the place was completely trashed. There on the bench was lifeless Mark's body. I looked away.

"Thanks for having my back out the," Jesse said all of the sudden, slapping me on the shoulder in approval. I just winced in pain since my whole body was still hurting and I said, "No problem, man."

That night I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Mark and picturing his lifeless body on the bench. One second he was alive and the next he was dead. What did we get ourselves into? I wonder how often fights like that happen. Anyone could've caught that bullet. It could've been me or Pony.

I had to lay low for a few days to let my ribs heal. I thought Jesse would be real mad about that, but he wasn't. Ever since Pony and me helped him in that fight he started to treat us nicer. The time seemed to pass so slowly as I lay on the couch at the Curtis. I missed Annie. The way we talked, but I was glad that I had a few days before seeing her. That gave me time for my face to heal up so I don't scare her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, here as promised is the chapter about the robbery that Pony and Johnny dreaded so much. Please let me know what you think.**

On Thursday the black panthers were having a meeting and we were supposed to be in it. So we got to the warehouse by 7 as we were supposed to. Most of the black panthers were already there, but they haven't started the meeting yet. It looked like they we waiting for someone. Then I realized they were waiting for us.

"How nice of you to join us," Jesse smiled, sucking on his cigarette, and his whole facial expression was that of superiority. Then he stopped smiling abruptly and said, "Let's get to business," and his facial expression changed to death serious.

"The robbery is tomorrow. The two of you better be ready. James will pick you up at 7:15, and drive you there. Since Mark is dead, it is going to be you, Dave and Teddy. You four will go inside, and take care of business, while James is going to wait in the car." I noticed how they still weren't giving us the address of the store. I bet they figured that if we had the address we would try to warn the owner.

"The clerk is alone and he's really old. You should have no problem. I got everything ready." He reached to one of the shelves and took out 4 masks and handed them to me, Pony, Dave and Teddy. Then he searched deeper into the shelves and took out two guns, revolvers.

"These will be handy," he smirked, handing one gun to Pony and one to me.

"I don't want any surprises, you hear me?"

"So, here is the plan," Dave said, "Teddy, tell them."

"Ok," Teddy started, "so we are going in at around closing time so most likely there won't be anypeople inside. But if there are people one of you," he pointed at me, "is gonna tell everybody to get on the floor and point the gun at them, while you," he pointed at Pony, "get to the counter and point the gun at the clerk and tell him to give you the money. We will help you beat him senseless so he'll be scared and will know that if he calls the cops it will only get worse for him. Do everything really fast and watch out in case he has a gun too. We all four are going inside, but you two do the job. You want to roll with the big boys. Show us how bad you want it."

"Here, you want to practice?" Jesse said.

"N…no," I managed.

"C'mon how do we know you won't blow it? Pretend I'm him, I'm the damn clerk, and these are the people in the store." I was just standing there awkwardly with the gun in my hands.

"C'mon," Teddy prompted. All of the sudden I felt really angry. I really wished I was holding the gun to Jesse's face, not the innocent clerk at the convenience store.

I lunged forward and pointed the gun at the guys, that were standing in a semi-circle. "Don't' move! Get down on the floor," I commanded, pointing the gun at one person one second and at another the next. Then I turned to Jesse, and pointed the gun right at his chest. "Gimmi the money," I demanded. I don't know what got into me, but I was really mad about this whole robbery deal, and I was taking my anger out on them. "Gimmi the money," I yelled, this time staring him right in the eyes. He must've sensed that I wasn't ok, 'cause he backed off a few steps, and was blinking strangely. It looked like he was actually scared.

"Ok, you are cool, now go easy," he said slowly, "don't point it like that, it's loaded. Now you do it," he said after a pause, pointing at Pony.

Pony was just standing there, and he looked lost. He was staring at the gun, his eyes huge.

"C'mon Pony, you can do it," I prompted. He raised the gun a little and swallowed hard, "Gimmi… g-gimmi the money," he said weakly. Dave laughed at him.

"You better get your shit together by tomorrow." He smirked. Pony said nothing, just lowered his gun back down.

"You can go" Jesse said to us reluctantly.

"I dunno if I can do it," Pony said once we were outside.

"We have to, we have no choice," I said with finality. "We wanted to be a part of their gang so now we have to play by their rules."

"I guess so," Pony sighed heavily.

I was dreading tomorrow. I played out in my mind a million times how I would point the gun at people and tell them to get on the floor. After this there was no turning back. After this we'll be criminals just like the rest of the black panthers.

Finally it was time. James gave us a ride there, and the four of us got out of the car and walked to the store. There we quickly put our masks on, and got our guns out.

"Show time," Teddy said with excitement. Like this was actually fun for him. My heart was pounding in my chest. I'm not going to lie, I was scared, and I felt an infinite amount of guilt for what I was about to do. The deal was that me and Pony do everything. That was the whole point, the whole rite of passage thing.

I opened the door, and looked around quickly. There were some people in the store. Maybe four or five of them. Nobody paid any attention to me. I don't think they even noticed me. I felt like I lost my voice, and was unable to speak. Pony was right next to me, and it looked like he froze. Teddy pushed me forward, "You are wasting time," he whispered through clenched teeth.

I had no choice, but to do what I came there to do. I don't know how I found my voice, but I stretched my arm with the gun in it and commanded , "Everybody on the floor . Now." My own voice sounded strange to me. Like as if it wasn't me who was speaking. The whole thing seemed so surreal.

They obeyed right away, and got on the floor.

"Hands behind your head," I commanded. I felt like the lowest scum that ever walked the earth.

I looked over at Pony. He was just standing there.

"You are wasting time," I heard Teddy yell at Pony angrily. Then Dave pushed him forward.

"Don't do anything stupid," I pointed my gun at the clerk. "One move and everybody dies. Hands behind your head." The clerk obeyed. He looked really scared.

Finally Pony wobbled to the counter. He still didn't look like himself. He looked like he was drunk or something. Pony was stretching his arm, pointing the gun at the clerk, and his hand was shaking. He was unable to say anything though. Luckily the clerk was in such a panic that he didn't realize that Pony was panicking himself, and was scared out of his mind.

"Don't shoot," the clerk mumbled. "Take the money, just don't shoot."

"Quickly, the money, here," Teddy said. He came by closer once he saw that Pony wasn't exactly doing well.

In the meantime I was still standing in the middle of the store, pointing the gun at people's heads.

One guy started moving, and moved his hands. Maybe he was trying to reach for a gun, I thought.

"Hands behind your head pal," I yelled. And my voice sounded stern and forceful. The guy put his hands back behind his head. I hated what I was doing, but I knew I had to do it for my and Pony's sake. My survivor instinct kicked in, and I was just lost in the moment. I walked in between the people pointing the gun at each of them.

As I was doing that, I saw Teddy putting the money into the plastic bag that Pony was holding. Then Teddy and Dave both jumped over the counter and started beating the clerk up.

"This is just for your own good," Teddy snickered, "just to make sure you don't do anything stupid," he continued, punching the clerk in the eye. "If you call the cops consider yourself dead, Understood?" he hissed, and put the gun to the clerk's forehead.

The clerk nodded, "Y-yeah, I understand, just don't shoot, please don't shoot." Dave looked like he was annoyed with what the clerk was saying, and hit him with the gun on the side of the head, then he punched him in the stomach.

Teddy and Dave continued beating the clerk till he was all bleeding and wasn't able to stand up on his own. I felt physically sick watching them beat him up like that, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. Not a thing.

After they were done with the clerk, Dave and Teddy jumped back over the counter. "Now fast, run," they yelled at Pony and me, and then ran to the front of the store.

"You go last, keep an eye on them," Teddy yelled while passing me by. I waited till they got out, and then moved backwards towards the exit, while still pointing the gun at them. Especially watching the one that tried to reach in his pocket before. Still walking backwards I exited the store, and then jumped in the car that was waiting there for me. Without a word James pressed the gas and we were off before anyone could get out and get our license plates number.

"So how'd go?" James asked from behind the wheel, and I could see him looking at me and Pony in the rearview mirror.

"This one," Teddy pointed at me, "did ok, he did just fine, but this little shit," he pointed at Pony, "shitted his pants and almost cost us. Thank God me and Dave were there."

"Yeah," Dave agreed, "we got the money and beat the crap outta the guy. We beat him shitless, and scared the hell out of him. Told him if he calls the fuzz he's a dead man."

Soon enough we reached the warehouse. It was late, but everyone was there.

"The money," Jesse said stretching his arm.

"Here," Teddy gave him the plastic bag.

"So how did our new friends do?" Jesse laughed, showing his teeth one of which was missing.

"This one did fine," Teddy pointed at me. "I'm even kinda proud of him, but the other one not so good. He was shaking like a leaf the whole time, and didn't help us beat up the guy. He was pointing the gun at the clerk though the whole time. So even though he shitted his pants, he still kept the gun pointed at the clerk the whole time so that the clerk didn't do anything stupid."


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok, chapter 8, enjoy.**

"All right," Jesse said after Teddy and Dave told him all about how we did, "Consider yourself part of the gang now." Jesse said to me, "Tomorrow you'll get initiated by getting your tat."

"You, too" he then looked at Pony, "even though you didn't do so well. I'll be watching you."

"I get what?" I asked awkwardly. He laughed in response.

"You get tattooed one of these." He unzipped his hoodie, and lifted up his shirt. There, on his chest there was a tattoo of a black panther of a pretty large size. "Like it? It's a beauty isn't it?" Jesse said proudly. I forced myself to nod and swallowed hard. I looked over at Pony, and he was staring at the tattoo with wide eyes.

"'K see ya all tomorrow," Jesse said, pulling his shirt back down.

"A tattoo that's crazy," Pony said after we left.

"I know," I said.

"That's for life. I can hide it from Darry for now, but in the summer when we go to the beach or something he'll see it."

I had nothing to tell him, so I just sighed heavily.

Saturday morning we showed up at the warehouse. Everybody was there already. They put two chairs in the middle of the room.

"So, who goes first?" Jesse asked with a smirk.

"I'll go first," I offered.

"Ok, then," Brian said.

I sat on one of the chairs, while Brian put his supplies on the other chair. He told me to lift up my shirt, and put the stencil onto my chest. Then he dipped the needle in ink and started tattooing. It hurt pretty badly, and I gritted my teeth in order not to let a sound out. I remembered all the beatings I went through at home and never cried. This was nothing compared to those beatings.

The whole thing took about half an hour. At the end Brian slapped me on the shoulder like I was one of them now. Pony was next. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to tolerate the pain, but he managed just fine. He did groan a few times though.

After we were all done with the tattoos, Jesse went to get his backpack. He then took two black hoodies out of his backpack and handed one to me and one to Pony. He slapped Pony on the shoulder playfully. A couple of weeks ago when we just joined the Black Panthers I would've been happy that they were treating us nicely, like we were just like them, but now I wasn't happy about it at all.

Later that night I went to the lot. I made the fire again, and was just sitting there lost deep in thought about everything that had happened, when I saw Annie approaching the lot. Probably got into another fight with her stepmother I thought. Even though I was really bothered by my thoughts about the robbery and what was going to happen next, I was glad to see Annie.

She came closer and sat down on the ground next to me. It was dark and I couldn't see her face right away, but when the light from the fire illuminated her face, I could see her facial expression. She looked really upset and there were streaks from the tears all over her face. I thought she was going to say something, but she was really quiet.

"What is it Annie?" I finally asked.

"Oh, I'm so glad you are here. I hoped you would be. I needed to tell somebody. Somebody I can trust."

"Is it your stepmother again?" I asked confused.

"No, something really bad happened," she paused, and I thought I heard her sniffle, "My uncle's convenience store was robbed yesterday." As I heard that, I felt like someone literally hit me on the head with a hammer.

"Your uncle?" I mumbled, "Where is his store?" I asked carefully, holding up to just a little hope that maybe it wasn't the store we robbed.

"It's on the West side, Broad Street. It's soc territory. He figured the store would be doing well since a lot of really rich people shop there."

I felt like my heart just stopped beating, while Annie continued, "He worked so hard for this money and now it's gone. But what's worse they beat him up really badly. He's in the hospital in critical condition," she sobbed, and I felt cold sweat roll down my back.

"It's just so terrible," she was really crying now. "They hit him on the head with something heavy. The doc said like a pipe or maybe a gun. He's got a concussion and he may never be the same again."

"C'mon Annie," I found myself saying, "he's gonna be alright."

"We don't know that," she sobbed again, "it's just he's… he's my favorite uncle. When I was little, he used to bring me to his store, and I picked out whatever candy I wanted and he let me have it for free. He's an old man now. How could anyone beat up an old man, who clearly couldn't defend himself?"

I felt like the lowest scum. Words cannot describe how awful I felt, and here I had to say something comforting to her, make her feel better.

"I'm really sorry this happened to you," I said.

"Yeah, me too," she replied.

I gave her a quick hug, and she wiped a tear. I myself was ready to cry. Why, why out of all people it had to be her uncle? I was being punished, I thought, for participating in something so low and disgusting. I wanted to crawl in some corner and just die. That's how horrible and how ashamed I felt.

Annie stayed at the lot a little longer. When she calmed down a little I walked her home again since it was too late for her to walk alone.

I didn't go back to the lot, but went to Curtis instead. I told Pony about Annie's uncle. He seemed bummed out about it just like I was. "I can't believe it," he said, "out of all people it had to be her uncle."

"Tell me about it," I sighed.

"Maybe you should tell her the truth," he suggested. "Maybe she'll understand."

"Oh, c'mon," I countered "Would you forgive the person if your brother was beat up senseless and robbed. No, she wouldn't understand,"

"Well, then don't tell her. She won't find out. The guy isn't going to go to the cops we made clear that if he does he's dead."

"I just feel so low and guilty, man," I sighed.

He nodded, "me too."

On Monday, I dreaded seeing Anne at school. I decided that I was going to tell her the truth. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't tell her the truth. But I didn't get a chance to tell her. Right before Social Studies class that we had together she came up to me and without even saying hello she yelled, "It was you wasn't it?"

"What?" I asked feeling the cold sweat again.

"It was your gang that robbed my uncle's store and you were part of it." My heart dropped. She found out somehow. I was unable to say anything so I was just standing there avoiding looking her in the eyes.

"My uncle said one of the guys was kind of small, had a deep scratchy voice and was limping. He also saw jet black hair sticking out from under the mask. When he gave me that description I knew it was you right away. Don't worry he isn't going to go to the cops since you made it clear he would die if he did that."

"I'm sorry Annie. I wanted to tell you. I'm so sorry," I whispered. My voice came out so small that I could hardly hear myself and my mouth got so dry I could barely speak.

"You make me sick," she replied and looked at me with disgust.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "but I had no choice."

"There's always a choice," she replied with finality, "always a choice. So what would happen if you refused? They'd beat you up, maybe even kill you. If you truly didn't want to do it you'd make _that_ choice." With that she turned around and started walking away.

"Annie wait," I yelled, "I don't want to lose you."

"After what you've done you have the nerve to say that. It's over."


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone, I wasn't able to update on Monday like I usually do so I'm updating today. Only one chapter to go after this one. Enjoy!**

I stood there frozen. Unable to speak, unable to think. I really liked Annie, and when she kissed me I thought that it was too good to be true. That something would happen that would destroy our relationship and now that something had happened.

I didn't want to be with the black panthers any more. I realized that this robbery was just the beginning. How many more crimes would I have to commit, how many innocent people would I have to hurt. I couldn't wait for the day to be over. I needed to talk to Pony. If he wanted to he could stay, but I wanted to go. I know he said once you are in, you are never out, but I needed to be out. I didn't care what would happen to me. And we just got initiated and got accepted by the gang. All the same I didn't care.

During lunch I met Pony at our spot. He was smoking, and I lit up too. "Listen, I've been thinking," I said. He looked at me expectantly, "I think we should leave the black panthers. This robbery is just the beginning. How many more crimes will we have to commit." He didn't look surprised, but nodded in agreement and then said, "Yeah, I've been thinking 'bout that too. Sure I wanted to be part of them, and at the beginning it was fun, but hurting innocent people is not what I want to do. I guess I just didn't think it all the way through when I decided I wanted to be part of them."

"Should we talk to them or should we just not show up when we are expected to?"

"I think we better talk to them maybe they'll go easier on us if we do. They are going to be pissed though. They just initiated us."

"Yeah," I admitted, "it's bad timing, but we got to do what we got to

do."

On Friday we finally decided to let Jesse know that we wanted out. We walked into the warehouse. He was sitting in his armchair, smoking. There were four more of them in the room. Among them was Big Willy. He got his nickname because he was really fat, but besides fat he also had muscle and his biceps were huge.

"Maybe this isn't a good time," Pony whispered, motioning at Big Willy and the others.

"If they are gonna get us, they are gonna get us no matter what so let's just get it over with," I replied. We had prepared what we were going to say. Only now my mind kind of went blank, but I forced myself to remember. Finally I got a hold of myself, cleared my throat and begun.

"Hey Jesse we need to talk to you."

"Yes? He said," tuning around.

"Alone," I said.

"Anything you say to me, you can say in front of these people," he replied flicking ashes from his cigarette right onto the floor, not bothering with an ash tray.

"Listen Jesse," I started, "we appreciate everything you did for us, but we decided we can't be part of your gang. We want out." He looked stunned.

"Don't worry we ain't gonna go to the cops or anything," I added 'cause I thought maybe he thought we would. "That robbery, we are the ones who did it not you, so we can't go to the cops you see," I tried to reassure him.

"So you got it all figured out," he said taking a drag on his cigarette. Big Willy now turned away from what he was doing and was looking at us. I felt all my muscles tense up.

"All figured out 'cept one thing," Jesse continued. He came up to me and lifted up my shirt. "What's that?" He pointed at the tattoo. "That was all for nothing? We finally trusted you and now you want to split."

"We are real sorry 'bout that" I started, but he interrupted me sounding furious, "you don't tell me when you leave. I tell you when and if you leave."

"Sorry," I said, "but we already made our decision." He shoved me on the shoulder, and I took a few steps back. Big Willy looked like he was ready to start beating on us any minute. I turned around and started walking towards the exit, motioning for Pony to follow me.

"Not so fast," Willy stuck his foot out and I tripped and fell on the floor.

"We really appreciate you initiating us, but it's just not our thing. Robberies and stuff." I said.

"You appreciate us initiating you," Jesse stated, "then you really going to appreciate what I'm about to do now." He started walking towards me, and I started walking backwards until my back hit the wall. Big Willy ran up to me. He held one of his arms on my left shoulder and started punching me in the stomach with the right hand. I was taking the blows and also looking over what was going on with Pony. One of the guys came up to him and hit him with a chain right across his chest. Pony screamed in pain, and the second blow followed.

"You fucking bastard," I spat trying to get out of Willie's grip. He only laughed this sick, disgusting laugh and held me tighter. He was punching me everywhere - my stomach, my face, shoulders and even the groin. The other ones were standing looking bored and like they wanted to join the action. Willy pushed me forward and one of the other ones caught me and laughed.

"You thought you could just leave." Jesse stated. I spat blood out and looked at him with all the hate I could possibly muster up. My whole face was bleeding. Then one of them ran up to me and delivered a blow with a chain across my chest. I started falling backwards when big Willy had caught me from behind, and started punching me in the ribs. I bent over and he started beating me on my back. Then the other one started hitting me with a chain on the back.

I tried to see what was going with Ponyboy, but I couldn't see over Willy towering over me. Finally I was able to get a glimpse. He was on the floor, and the two guys were kicking him with their feet on his sides and his stomach. His whole face was smeared with blood. He was clutching at the floor and was moaning. While I was looking at Pony, one of them pushed me and I fell on the floor my face down. They all laughed. Then Willie and the other ones started kicking me with their feet. They cursed loudly as they were doing that. I was in so much pain, that I almost started feeling numb.

They stopped for one second to regroup, and I momentarily got up to my feet. I felt weak, but like I was still able to run. I stretched my arm to Pony and he grabbed it and got up to his feet. I started running, pulling Pony with me.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. We were running out of the warehouse and onto the street. Then I heard a gunshot then another one and another one. Shit they weren't joking around. All of the sudden I felt sharp pain in my right shoulder. I touched it with my left hand where it was hurting, and then looked at my hand. It was completely covered with blood. "Shit, I got shot," I mumbled. We still kept running, and few more gun shots followed, but soon they had to stop, because we were on the main streets now, and if people saw them running around firing shots, people would call the cops. We were running aimlessly, and I was feeling weaker.

"C'mon Johnny, we got to get you to the hospital," Pony yelled and started running towards the bus stop.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok, this is the last chapter. I'm sad to see this story end. I had fun writing it, but I already have ideas for the next story so that's ok. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this story and to review or follow/favorite it, thanks!**

We got on the bus. People were giving us weird looks, but we didn't care.

"You are going to be ok, Johnny" Pony said. I looked at him. He looked so helpless and scared. Like he wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do. I was in a lot of pain, but I told myself to just tough it out. We got off near the hospital. We ran into the ER and went to the reception area.

"We need help fast, my friend got shot," Pony quickly said to the receptionist.

"Fill out this form," she gave him the paper.

"Ma'am you don't understand we don't have time."

"Just fill out this form son," she said again, "the doctor will be with you shortly."

"It's ok Pony, we better fill it out. I can wait," I managed to say. We filled out the paper, and gave it back to the receptionist. Soon enough I heard my name being called to see the doctor. Pony went with me. The doctor looked like he was in his mid forties. He looked at my shoulder and shook his head.

"May I ask how this happened?" He asked.

"We were just walking," Pony said quickly, "while some thugs were running around. All of the sudden we heard a shot, and my friend caught a bullet." Pony could come up with a lie so fast. The doctor shook his head again. "You're going to be ok son," he assured. "We are just going to give you some local anesthesia." He seemed sympathetic. I was glad. I was concerned we were going to get someone who would judge us.

The doc told me to lie down, and gave me some local anesthesia. In a little while once the anesthesia was working he came up to me. He used some nippers to remove the bullet.

"You are lucky son that it's just the shoulder," he said.

"Yeah, I know," I managed. He then proceeded to clean the wound and then stitch it up.

"We are going to keep you here for a day or two. Just to make sure you are healing ok, but you should be fine." I nodded. I liked the guy. He was nice. I was so used to being treated lousy that this was like a breath of fresh air. All of the sudden I felt sleepy. I was tired even though I didn't realize it before.

"Get some rest you've lost a lot of blood," the doc said.

I looked at Ponyboy. "You should go home." I told him. "Darry is gonna be worried."

"Yes young man you should go," the doc agreed. "Visiting hours are over anyway."

"Ok, fine." Pony said reluctantly. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Pony," I called when he was almost out the door.

"Yes?" He turned around.

"Thanks." He nodded in response. "I'll be back tomorrow," he said again and left.

I decided to go to sleep. The time would pass faster that way. I slept through the evening and the next day up to the visiting hours. There was nothing else to do but sleep. The doc came in a couple of times to check up on me, and the nurse took my vitals.

Finally, I woke up, and to my surprise I saw Annie sitting in a chair next to my bed. She got up in haste once she saw that I was awake.

"Johnny!"She exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked confused.

"Ponyboy told me what happened. I'm so sorry." I didn't get it. What was she apologizing for?

"I'm sorry," she said again. "It's all my fault. I told you to get out of the gang and you did, and look what happened."

"Don't be sorry." I said, smiling in spite of myself. I was really happy that she was there. "It's not your fault." I hurried to assure her. "I should've never joined the black panthers in the first place."

"It's ok, you made a mistake. It happens. Forget everything I said before."

"I'm really sorry about your uncle. How is he?"

"He's doing much better. He had a concussion you know, but the doctor said he's going to be ok."

"Ok," I nodded. She came up closer to the bed, and took my hand. "I'm so happy you are ok. I got so scared when Ponyboy told me."

I was really happy that she came by. "I really like you Annie," I said, squeezing her hand in mine, "I don't want to lose you."

"You won't lose me," she replied, squeezing my hand back. I saw a tear in her eye, but she wiped it off quickly.

The door opened, and Pony walked in. "hi Annie, hi Johnny. How are you holding up?"

"I'm ok," I replied. "I just wish I could go home already."

"I told Darry and Soda everything last night," he said, "about the black panthers and the robbery. I even showed them my tattoo."

"You did? How'd they take it?"

"Soda was ok, but Darry was really mad at first, but then he calmed down and said we are lucky we got off easy. Him and Soda are going to stop by in a little while."

We talked a little more, and then they left. Needless to say I was beyond happy that I got Annie back.

Later on Darry and Soda came by. They didn't even mention anything about the black panthers. Just asked me how I was doing, and talked to the doc.

The next day I was able to leave the hospital. My folks didn't even realize I was gone. Figures. Darry was right though. We did get off easy. For a week I was afraid the black panthers were going to go after us. But after a week nothing happened, and I realized that they left us alone.

After that things went back to normal. I got back together with Annie, and Pony seemed to get over his rebellious phase. We all hung out all the time. Nobody ever mentioned anything about the black panthers, not even Darry. It was like it never happened, and I liked it that way.


End file.
